Just Ask

Isaiah 7:10-14

The first thing I learned as the part of my life which included retail sales is that if you don't ask you won't get. That rule doesn't just apply to the final "Is this what you want to buy today?" in order to get the sale, but the very first, "Hi, I'm Randy. What's your name?"

The first questions are really the more important ones. Questions such as "What can I help you find?" or "Is there something you want what you're buying today to have or do?" or "Who else in your home might be using this product?" are all questions to help the customer find the exact product they are looking for. They are also questions that build what is called rapport.

Rapport is more than conversation. It's conversation in which the people or groups concerned understand each other's feelings or ideas by building a relationship. Most times a good rapport will result in a good sales experience for everyone involved. The opposite is just as true. If neither person is willing to share in building a good relationship in which trust and honesty is primary, then the sales process can be very weary, at best.

It would seem this is what is happening with Isaiah in today's passage. I like that the word "weary" is actually used to describe the relationship between the people of Judah and God. When he says to the king of Judah to ask of God anything, anything at all, Ahaz says he won't do it. The question I'm pondering is did he refuse to ask because he was being respectful, or because he didn't feel comfortable?

God wants desperately to be in a relationship with us. The kind of relationship God seeks is one built through trust and honesty. This starts with asking and answering the simple questions like, "What's your name?" or "What's happening today?" These are questions which build rapport, the kind of rapport which eventually becomes a close relationship.